Sunningdale to Windsor & Eton Riverside walking guide

Exiting Sunningdale station from Platform 2, turn left crossing the railway tracks. Follow London Road (the A30), to Broomhall Lane (the B383), and turn left. When it becomes Station Road, turn right and then right again on Church Road. Follow the road to the end, and the go left up Whitmore Lane, past the bowling club. Keep looking out for a field gate and public footpath sign on the right. Follow this to Coworth Park and the polo fields. Head for the white clock tower in the distance and go left on the tarmac road to reach the gate lodge, where you turn left to reach Blacknest car park. Walk diagonally left to a wooden gate entering Windsor Great Park. 

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Follow the path ahead by a bylaw sign. You will reach Virginia Water, a lake built in the 1740s by the Duke of Cumberland. Turn left and follow the track to the stone bridge. Cross the bridge and go right on the trampled path by the water's edge. This will take you through the woods to the estate cottages. Follow the red arrow marked Lakeside Walk to the left, bringing you in front of the cottages.

Look for a path in the grass diagonally to the right and follow it until you reach a sandy horse track. Bear right. The path will go uphill by a burgundy sign to Valley Gardens. Wander through the azalea and rhododendron glades descending down to a sandy track and turn left. Cross the wooden bridge on your right, and walk steeply uphill for about 20 yards. Take a right at the log bench on the right. Cross a stand of beech trees and continue on downhill to the lake. Follow the track left to reach the impressive 100ft Totem Pole, a gift to The Queen from the people of Canada in 1958.

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To reach the Obelisk, follow the fingerpost sign to Savill Gardens along the carriage drive. For lunch, picnic at the tables by the Obelisk or continue to Savill Gardens Restaurant. Walk passed Savill Gardens until the road curves left. Take a right on to a grassy track marked 'No Cycling' and, at the first crossroads, go left to reach Cow Pond.

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Head for the top left-hand corner of the field. Next, cross the stream and continue through the wood. Go right at the edge to a sandy horse track and continue for about quarter of a mile, then turn left to reach the tarmac. Go left in the direction of the pink lodge houses to the Royal Lodge, formerly one of the residences of the Queen Mother. Turn right to stroll through the Deer Park gates.

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Pick up a path to the right across the grass until you come to the edge of a pine wood. You can either go through the wood or turn downhill on a wide grass track, keeping the wood to your left. As the ground levels out, go left along a track flanked by oaks. Windsor Castle is to your right (last admission 16:00 in winter, 15:00 in summer).

After about 550 yards you come to the Long Walk, planted in 1680 to link the Park to Windsor Castle. Go right, heading towards the Castle. At the Castle gates, go left on Park Street. At the top, a sign directs you to the Castle entrance by Church Street. 

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